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From: CPT Sam Daman, USA
Date: 27 Jul 2000
Time: 18:07:24
[CPT Daman is a former Infantry Company CO]
Ref #374, Attachment 1: Dave Moniz, "This Isn't Your Father's Boot Camp Anymore," USA Today, July 19, 2000, Pg. 1.
I read this article and others like it, specifically the article about softening the image of the drill sergeant in the June 5th, 2000 issue of Army Times, with obvious interest. I have been on the receiving end as a rifle company commander of some poor quality soldiers fresh from OSUT.
I have had friends who commanded reception companies in the training base and replacement companies in the divisions. At least a couple of years ago, they actually were able to hold up shipping a soldier to a unit, but the standard would shock most. For instance, in my old division, I talked to my friend who commanded the replacement company and lamented to her the poor quality of new soldiers I was getting.
Brand new 11B soldiers were showing up in my company overweight and unable to pass an APFT [Army Physical Fitness Test], sometimes less than 2 weeks after graduating from Fort Benning. Many could not even run 2 miles without falling out of formation.
I addressed these issues because they are tangible things that can be identified in the short time the new soldier is inprocessing. Her response was shocking. A soldier who could not pass an APFT was not to be held up from shipment to his/her new unit. For an overweight male soldier, the soldier must be at least 30% body fat to be held up at the replacement detachment. Most new 11Bs are between 17-20 years old. The Army maximum body fat standard for all male soldiers in this age range is 20%. So it was not uncommon for me to get a soldier who was way overweight from day one in his unit, a unit which could deploy to war in 18 hours. Physical fitness and body composition are critical to SURVIVAL of the soldier and the TRUST his comrades have in him and that is what counts in combat. Numbers count in peacetime.
I think the article overstated the 3rd and 4th attempt issue. Basic training is designed to introduce and indoctrinate the recruit into the respective service. Some guys learn quicker than others and may have civilian experiences that are applicable to the military, specifically they were athletes or shooters or hunters. That does not necessarily mean they will be better soldiers in the long term.
The central issue is that there must be a rigid enforcement of the minimum standard of performance. If it takes the guy 5 times to qualify with his weapon or pass an APFT, then fine, so long as he legitimately qualified or passed. If we did not offer second and third chances, we would lose a staggering amount of quality soldiers who are just late bloomers. This is especially important today when we don't have a disposable, unlimited supply of new recruits.
If you only saw me as a plebe at West Point and then did not see me until today, many years later, you would be quite surprised. I also had to recycle a phase in Ranger school and I knew guys who recycled 3 of the 4 phases. I met those tough standards, but not necessarily on the first try. Obviously, there has to be a point where the effort, time and material resources outweigh the potential gain, but I don't think we should give up after only two attempts. The key is to not compromise the standard of performance. Unfortunately, this happens all too often.
I take exception to COL Bednarek's comment about "getting through the drill sergeant". The drill sergeant is not the obstacle, the trainee's ability to meet minimum standards is. They should have asked some NCOs, current or former drill sergeants, who actually have to execute on a daily basis. I imagine they would say, "Basic training has always been a gateway to becoming a man.
The purpose of the drill sergeant was to tell the brand new recruit, ' I don't care who you are, how much money you have, where your from, or who your daddy is. Here you are going to learn there is a right way, a wrong way, and the Army way. You are going to learn the Army way and meet Army standards or you will go home.'" To quote former Chief of Staff of the Army, GEN Bernard Rogers, 'This is a volunteer Army and soldiers volunteer to meet our standards. If they fail to meet our standards, we should thank them for trying and send them on their way." The drill sergeant was not an obstacle, the Army's minimum standards of performance were
Two issues about Army Initial Entry Training/Basic Combat Training/One Unit Station Training that are troublesome.
First, the article talked almost exclusively to officers commanding basic training battalions or brigades. In today's Army, you get one shot at battalion and brigade command and these are very tough cuts. If I was king for a day, I would make these critical positions second commands for LTCs and COLs, PERSCOM be damned.
What you have today is an officer who has only 2 years to make a name for himself in command. He is unlikely to sit back and truly decentralize and let the NCOs run the show almost exclusively with minimal, but appropriate supervision. Today's commander is going to tweak with the training to show he is "innovative", meanwhile forcing his drill sergeants to work even longer hours. He is going to make sure he has the highest graduation percentage amongst his peers to show he is a "trainer", forgetting some of his buddies commanding regular battalions may have to go to combat with a lot of poor quality soldiers who should have been sent home or recycled until they got it right. And finally, he is going to root out any conduct by the drill sergeants he determines to be remotely questionable and terminate many careers (and cause others to get out due to frustration) to show he "enforces high standards" and "cares for the soldier".
Drill sergeants call these officers "Joe Protectors or Joe Lovers". If it was a second command, it would be even harder to get thereby carrying true respect as opposed to today. Today, these battalions are not as glamorous or sought after as regular unit battalions. Some basic training battalion and brigade commanders do go on to brigade command and General's stars, but your chances are less and your experience base in those subsequent positions is very weak.
Under my proposal, basic training battalions and brigades would only given to the very best, proven commanders of regular battalions and brigades. With this system, they would much more likely let the drill sergeants do their job with minimal interruption from officers. In addition, they would have seen some weak soldiers who slipped through the system, and likely determined not to let that happen on their watch, in effect holding the drill sergeants responsible not for quantity, but quality.
Second, we don't make soldiers earn the title Soldier. They are called Soldier or Private from day one. Drill sergeants are forbidden to refer to the recruit as Trainee. There is no stress of threat of failure. Recruits are told they will make it as long as they don't quit. I recently watched a special on the Discovery Channel about Marine Corps Recruit Training. I am not normally one of these "lets copy the Marines" kind of guys. Some of their successes compared to the larger service's failures are because most of their overhead is picked up by the Navy and Army. But in this case they have two things I like.
Marine recruits are referred to as Recruit by the drill instructors and other cadre until they graduate and EARN the title Marine. In addition, Marine Recruits are forbidden to refer to themselves in the first person. There is no more "I", it is now "this recruit".
The Crucible in the final week of boot camp. At the successful completion of this rigorous event, demanding of teamwork, cohesion, and toughness to complete, the Recruit is presented his Eagle, Globe, and Anchor and welcomed into the Few and the Proud. His sense of achievement and confidence are high and he is truly proud because he completed something that was challenging and recognized as such. He knows he earned the right to be called Marine and it wasn't given to him.
A final point. Full Metal Jacket is referenced numerous times as having dramatic influence on perceptions of boot camp and drill sergeants/instructors. Interestingly, it is about the United States Marines who have been able to meet their recruiting quotas without fail for years and still maintain the most rigorous basic training.
Best wishes,
CPT Sam Damon